How to Use ChatGPT Effectively

✅ 1. Be Clear and Direct in Your Prompts

  • The better your question or instruction, the better the response.

  • Use specific words like:

    • “Give me 5 examples…”

    • “Summarize this paragraph…”

    • “Explain this as if I were a beginner.”

Example:

“Give me 10 ideas for a short online course on ethics for African youth.”

✅ 2. Break Big Requests into Steps

  • For complex projects, ask for help step-by-step:

    • Step 1: Outline

    • Step 2: Lesson plan

    • Step 3: Reading list

    • Step 4: Assignments

Example:

“Help me design a 4-week self-study course called Reparations for Africa. Start with an outline.”

✅ 3. Use It as a Brainstorming Partner

  • Ask for ideas, titles, themes, or improvements.

  • Say: “Can you suggest 5 better names for this course?” or “What’s missing from this outline?”

✅ 4. Ask for Rewrites or Reductions

  • If a paragraph is too long or academic, say:

    • “Make this shorter.”

    • “Rewrite this in simpler language.”

    • “Turn this into bullet points.”

✅ 5. Personalize the Help

  • Tell ChatGPT what kind of audience you’re working with:

    • “I'm writing this for African college students.”

    • “Make this friendly for beginners.”

    • “This is for a nonprofit humanist school.”

✅ 6. Use ChatGPT as a Learning Coach

You can ask:

  • “Quiz me on this concept.”

  • “What’s the main idea of this video/book?”

  • “Explain moral ambition in simple terms.”

✅ 7. Get Feedback on Your Writing or Ideas

  • Paste your writing and say:

    • “Improve this paragraph.”

    • “Give me comments like a teacher would.”

    • “Make this more inspiring.”

✅ 8. Save or Organize Your Work

  • Copy and paste helpful content into Google Docs or Notion.

  • Or say: “Summarize everything we’ve done so far.” to get a clean recap.

🛠️ Bonus: Things You Can Ask ChatGPT to Do

  • Write lesson plans

  • Create reading or video lists

  • Summarize articles

  • Draft essays, bios, or course descriptions

  • Generate quiz questions

  • Recommend educational tools

  • Explain hard topics in simple language

  • Translate into other languages

❓Tips If You're Unsure What to Ask

Try prompts like:

  • “What are 3 ways to start a course on justice?”

  • “What are the weaknesses in this idea?”

  • “What would an African philosopher say about this topic?”